My 33rd Birthday

Today I turned 33 and what a wonderful day I had. My morning started with Scot singing happy birthday to me with the help of the girls. I also received a very nice card from Scot and the girls. Throughout the day I received several phone calls from family wishing me a happy birthday. I also received several messages on Facebook wishing me a great birthday.

For lunch I was treated to Panera Bread by my girlfriend April and her daughter, Tessa. It was such a great gift from her! She brought lunch over to my house which worked out great because the girls played with one another which gave us time to catch up. Now that the girls are a bit older, it was fun watching them interact with one another. I have a feeling we will have a lot of fun play dates in our future!!

Later in the afternoon my Mother-in-love came over and brought me a wonderful gift....SHOPPING $$$!! Scot and I are headed to Traverse City this weekend with friends and I think I plan on doing some serious shopping!!

THANKS to all my family and friends for making my birthday a special day!!! I am very blessed in more ways than I can count!!

Mission Impossible

I have decided today that it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to take the girls' one year pics.

Pics from Monday's photo session:

Photos from today's session:

"Really mom.....NOT AGAIN!!!!"

"Mom, when is it my turn??"

First Wagon Ride

The girls have been in the house for the past few days and I decided they needed to get some fresh air this morning. So I bundled them up like Eskimos and took them for their first wagon ride. We went down to the barn to visit Dad.

Woot, Woot, another Birthday Party!!!

This afternoon we celebrated Skylar and Alysha's first birthday with the Van Dam family. Thankfully, the girls took a great morning nap so they were ready to PARTY!!! The girls had a great time! Alysha was having fun ripping the paper off the presents and "reading" her cards. Skylar could care less about opening the presents. All she wanted to do was walk around with the gifts. Their birthday cake was a cute white bear that Aunt Heidi made. It was very YUMMY!!! Skylar and Alysha both LOVED their cake. THANK YOU to all of you for the great gifts and the helping hands!!

Just a Thought

I can not believe it is January 14 already!! Where did the past 14 days go in the New Year? For us Van Dams the first 10 days we were fighting a nasty cold that we could not kick! We are still blowing our noses on a regular basis. It is amazing to me how I had all these goals for the New Year and I have already blown most of my New Year's Eve Resolutions. I need to remember that every day is a new day to start over!

I ran across the following and it has made an impact on me the past few days. I am hoping it will have an impact on you as well:

If we only realized how brief is

our time on this earth, then most of

the irritants and frustrations which

drive us apart would seem terribly

insignificant and petty.

Love for a Lifetime

Christmas with the Van Dams

Christmas in January? Yep...we had to reschedule our Christmas party with the Van Dams due to illness. This winter season has been tough on all of us. Thankfully, today we were all healthy and were able to get together to celebrate Christmas. Even though it was hard for the older kids to wait a couple extra weeks it was kind of nice to have the parties spaced out. We all received very nice gifts from everyone! I was so excited with the new toys the girls received and could not wait for the girls to play with them.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great time ringing in the New Year. I wish I could say that we did however we have been sick here for the past two days with bad colds. Not the way I wanted to start 2011. This to shall pass.

Just a reminder that in three days Win at Losing 2011 starts. So far I have 8 contestants. It is not to late to join. Make 2011 the year you stick to your New Year's Eve Resolution of losing weight. Look and feel great before spring. For more information check out my other blog: http://winatlosing2010.blogspot.com.